The Puente Project is a statewide program that helps Mexican American/Latino community college students in California achieve their academic goals. Puente's goals are to reduce the number of Mexican American/Latino community college students who drop out of school and increase the number who transfer to four-year institutions. To meet these goals,…

Now that basic skills have been linked to the economic prosperity of the country, businesses have become concerned about improving the basic skills of young people. A promising approach is the Summer Reporter Project conducted in Wisconsin as part of the summer programs of the Job Training Partnership Act. The program has three main elements: (1)…

Peer sociometrics, teacher ratings of academic performance, and self-concept scores were used to compare the social, academic, and psychological adjustment of 47 low-achieving/retained, low-achieving/promoted, and average achieving/promoted 2nd-, 3rd-, and 4th-grade students from two southern rural elementary schools. Because the sample was…

The Creative Learning Environment for Academic Redirection (CLEAR) Alternative program attempts to educate adolescents who have the ability to learn but are dysfunctional in school. The program serves students in grades 9-12 whose behaviors conform to the profile of students most likely to drop out of school. Most of the students who have…

The relationship between a student's "significant others" and academic persistence or attrition was studied at Spring Arbor College, Michigan, and activities were instituted at the college as a result of study findings. "Significant others" was defined as those who interacted with and influenced the individual's conceptions. A…

This paper recommends new strategies in the use of data in monitoring enrollment distribution, retention, and graduation rates of minority students in predominantly white colleges. Surveys of current literature show there are three significant questions: (1) Who drops out? (2) Why do they drop out? and (3) How can the overall dropout rate be…

This paper provides an overview of dropout rates in New Mexico and reports the perceptions of Hispanic and Native American students on dropout-related issues. New Mexico has the third highest dropout rate in the nation. Over 7,500 students in New Mexico drop out each year, and many schools lose 30-50 percent of their students. Dropout rates are…

This study compared characteristics of students who persisted in undergraduate study and those who dropped out when matched on high school performance and Scholastic Assessment Test scores. Subjects were 747 full-time students at a major research university who entered in fall 1996 but did not return for fall 1997 (leavers) and a matched sample of…

This study evaluated a career education program for 141 ninth grade students at Kemper County High School in rural Mississippi in an effort to reduce the dropout rate and increase career awareness. A mental health counselor gave students monthly instruction on career issues necessary for vocational life after high school graduation. A local…

The Indiana Vocational Technical College (IVTC) is a state-supported two-year college with 22 campuses across Indiana. In January 1992, as part of a college-wide effort to improve institutional effectiveness, an eight-member Retention Committee (RC) was established, consisting of executive and instructional deans; directors of student services;…

The StudentPal program is a student tracking system developed jointly by the Multicultural Affairs program and High Technology Center at Glendale Community College, in Arizona. The program uses computer-assisted tracking to target students and various student characteristics and identify at-risk factors to improve the retention and success of…

To address the needs of at-risk black males the Positive Impact Program (PIP) was organized. Teachers and parents were asked to refer black boys in kindergarten through eighth grade who exhibited low self-esteem; lack of motivation; poor academic record; chronic disciplinary problems; poor school attendance; poor hygiene and personal care habits;…

This study describes dropout prevention strategies used by social service and school personnel in the Stay-In-School Partnership Project (SSPP), analyzes longitudinal statistical data generated by the 3-year program, and proposes a model for conceptualizing and implementing a dropout prevention program for at-risk minority students. SSPP is a…

The development of students should be the primary mission of higher education. The consequences of significant attrition in many universities are not trivial. This study identified relevant variables and appropriate methodologies for enhancing undergraduate retention at one university. By employing records analyses, system definition, and a…

This paper describes LEARNing Visions, a K-12 intervention program for at-risk youth in Jackson County, Tennessee, involving a partnership between the schools, local businesses, Tennessee Technological University, and Visions Five (a private company). Jackson County is characterized by an undereducated population, a high employment rate, and a low…